The present invention relates generally to the manufacture of composite articles filled with a cellular foam covered by a fabric and more particularly relates to a method for manufacturing upholstery having a resilient, open cell foam covered by a breathable fabric.
In the past, fabric covered foam plastic articles using airimpervious fabrics were made by shaping the fabric to the contour of the mold, applying vacuum to hold the fabric in the mold, and then pouring the foam on top of the fabric in the mold. Breathable fabrics of the type used to make seats coming in contact with the body generally were not used in these articles because of the difficulty of drawing them down into the mold by vacuum and because the foam tended to strike through the pores of the fabric causing the fabric to lose its desirable feel, appearance, and/or firmness.
A partial solution was realized by treating the breathable fabric with a polymeric fluorocarbon sizing compound to prevent strike through as disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,016,318 granted to Charles F. Sudman on Jan. 9, 1962, but the problem of drawing the fabric into a mold by vacuum still existed.
An alternate partial solution involved the use of an air-impervious film backing behind the breathable fabric so that the vacuum could not be lost through the fabric and mechanically puncturing the film with a plurality of pins after forming as disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,258,511 granted to William A. McGregor, Jr. on June 28, 1966. However, this left a film which had to be bonded to both the fabric and the foam while leaving the breathing area limited to the points of mechanical puncture rather than the entire breathable surface of the fabric.
Thus, neither of the partial solutions, individually or combined, has solved the problems associated with the manufacture of breathable fabric covered foamed article.